The Cascade 220 Superwash wool "family" of yarns (worsted, sport, etc.) have been some of my favorites for ages, especially for baby items. However, I have usually stuck to fairly light and/or natural colors and recently had an unexpected unpleasant surprise when I made a balaclava from a deep jewel-tone color ... there was so much excess dye in this yarn that it stained my bamboo needles, stained my fingers and bled like crazy when I washed it. I had to wash and rinse it over and over until the water ran clear. This had not happened with previous colors I've used.

Now my question for those of you who may have used this yarn for colorwork: what to do about dye bleeding/running when using deep colors with light colors? I bought some bright/deep colors in sport-weight to be used in stranded colorwork and now am hesitant. I did use some of these colors for Christmas ornaments, but I don't "wash" these ... just a light spray with cold water to help shape them.

Donna, with intentions always bigger than her available time. (OkieDokieKnitter on Ravelry)

I know I've read somewhere—here, maybe?—about washing the yarn by itself in a vinegar bath of some sort, after a few rinses to remove some excess dye. The vinegar apparently acts to set the color in some way. There's gotta be someone here who remembers more about this than I do.

Maybe the skein you bought had unusually excess dye. Seems odd for such a popular yarn used often in colorwork to have such a big problem with excess dye.

That's a good idea; just didn't think of it since I'd not had the problem before. But good insurance, I'd say, for future projects.

I mostly worry about recipients for gifts I make. That's one reason I ALWAYS wash my finished projects (at least items that I know will be worn and washed) before giving them away ... if there are going to be any problems, I want to know about it first!

Donna, with intentions always bigger than her available time. (OkieDokieKnitter on Ravelry)

I used a Cascade 220 Superwash in navy and it did not dye my fingers, but it did dye my bamboo needles. It ran quite a bit when I washed it, but I also just kept washing and rinsing until it ran clear. Lucky for me, I knit a scarf that was just that 1 color. It will be interesting if someone has the solution for using multiple colors.

I've never had that happen with Cascade 220 before. But when I had it happen in colorwork to a stranded Christmas stocking made from Lamb's Pride(causing massive hyperventilation), I used Carbona Color Run Remover and had very good luck with it. All the gory details here.